Chapter 4 of Our Little Cuban Cousin is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Our Little Cuban Cousin is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOURS. IT was a beautiful Sunday morning. The birds were singing gaily outside. Maria opened her eyes. Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
Chapter 4 of Our Little Cuban Cousin is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “The birds were singing gaily outside.”
in a gay manner
From this reading “The birds were singing gaily outside.”
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading “Maria opened her eyes.”
plural of “neighbour” — a person who lives (or is located) near another
From this reading “NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOURS.”
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading “The birds were singing gaily outside.”
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading “The birds were singing gaily outside.”
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading “Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.”
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading “IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The birds were singing gaily outside.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Maria opened her eyes.
in a gay manner
From this reading The birds were singing gaily outside.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Maria opened her eyes.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.
for more time
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading Maria opened her eyes.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.
plural of “neighbour” — a person who lives (or is located) near another
From this reading NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOURS.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOURS.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading Maria opened her eyes.
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading The birds were singing gaily outside.
by chance
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading The birds were singing gaily outside.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The birds were singing gaily outside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IT was a beautiful Sunday morning.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The birds were singing gaily outside.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Perhaps she would have slept longer if she had not been wakened by a sound in the next room.
Chapter 4 of Our Little Cuban Cousin by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade holds 105 sentences, grouped into 21 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 4 holds 105 sentences of Our Little Cuban Cousin, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Our Little Cuban Cousin by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 105 sentences, grouped into 21 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 4 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Our Little Cuban Cousin by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1285 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43636 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43636, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 107 minutes of reading across 257 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Our Little Cuban Cousin section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Our Little Cuban Cousin to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Our Little Cuban Cousin, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
